For some people plain good is not enough. This Honda Civic EG hatchback started out as a clean fully restored car spec’d to resemble a JDM EG6 SiR. However, Rex Tan wasn’t satisfied with just a clean looking car, he wanted it be different. So began his EG project, the shell was sent to FM Garage for a showcar finish using PPG paint tinted to the color of Vanilla White.
With its minimalist color, the car isn’t a total screamer from the outside. The parts were more for lightening the car and adding a bit of a color contrast. Spoon Sports carbon fiber racing mirrors replaced the heavy stock side mirrors. A lightweight carbon fiber hood and rear bumper diffuser was especially custom made by Stage21, and the CF details were finished off with the Backyard Special front lip and rear wing.
Under the hood, this car is a totally different monster; the B16A engine that originally resided here was evicted in favor of a fully built K20/K24 Frankenstein engine complete with a plethora of go-fast parts put together by engine builder Bong Hilario of H3 Autoworks. The longblock is mated to an Xcessive intake manifold mated with an 80mm throttle body and BPI velocity stack, which breathes out to an SSR header with a 3-inch custom exhaust. It was mapped with a Hondata K-Pro ECU to the tune of 276 wheel horsepower and 190 lbs-ft of torque with a rev limit of 9,500 rpm with E85 fuel on the Autoplus Dynojet. All this is mated to a 5.1-final ratio DC5 Type-R 6-speed transmission with an Exedy Hyper-Single Clutch. The engine and transmission is lubricated exclusive with Motul 300V, Motul Gear FF and cooled with Motul MoCool in the Dynamics aluminum radiator.
Keeping the car on the ground are race-spec Dynamics coilovers, Skunk2 rear lower control arms, ASR rear subframe, and a Fullrace traction bar. To make suspension tweaking easier, Skunk2 front and rear camber kits were installed for adjusting from race to show set-ups. The car rolls on 16″x7″ Rays Engineering Volk Racing TE-37 with 205/45R16 Yokohama Advan Neova AD-08 tires.
Inside the car are leftovers of the former EG6 restoration which include full JDM sidings and flat folding rear seats, and more functional styling parts, which start off with a pair Bride Stradia carbon-kevlar seats mounted on Bride super-low seat rails; a rare Mugen FG360 steering wheel, Mugen sports pedals, and Mugen aluminum shift knob paired with the K-Tuned billet shifter. Monitoring is done via a standalone Innovate wideband O2 sensor, and Defi Link Black-Face oil temperature, oil pressure, fuel pressure meters.
Vanilla may be the most common ice cream flavor, this Vanilla-colored EG hatchback may look normal to the untrained eye, but is far beyond the common examples you’ll see on the road. This car has the show and packs a lot of go.
The Master: Honda Civic EG Gallery
photos by Brent Co